Oliver Twist

Doing television is just not Richard Dreyfuss' bag. Nothing personal. "Television in general is not something you want to do unless you have to do it," says the Academy Award-winning actor. But here he is, playing, with controlled gusto, Charles Dickens' scandalous scoundrel Fagin in a new television version of the author's classic tale "Oliver Twist." The movie is presented on ABC's "The Wonderful World of Disney" (6 p.m. Sunday, WLS-Ch. 7). Dreyfuss' last television performance was in an...

"South Pacific": With this year's unseasonably cool weather, many of us may feel "lost in the middle of a foggy sea. " But Bali Ha'i beckons in Lincolnshire for cockeyed optimists who find this 64-year-old Rodgers and Hammerstein musical younger than springtime. David H. Bell directs for Marriott, with Broadway vet Stephen R. Buntrock as expatriate French planter Emile de Becque, Ben Jacoby as Lt. Joe Cable and rising local stars Elizabeth Lanza and Bethany Thomas as Nellie...

Oliver Twist has one of the greatest hard-knock lives in literature. The 10-year-old lost his mother at birth, toils in the workhouse and falls in with thieves. He is sold, shot, kidnapped, marked for murder and the victim of cruel justice and bad medicine. Take away the music of "Oliver!" and the startling bleakness of "Oliver Twist" (8 p.m. Sunday, WTTW-Ch. 11) comes through in a superb new version from PBS' "Masterpiece." The two-part miniseries continues Feb. 22. Despite the grim...

In this line of work (writing), the term "orphan" doesn't come up that much, unless someone's talking about the last, lonely word that falls at the bottom of a column of type. Also, last night's bottle of beer, now warm, that's sitting next to the computer. But in fiction, frequently -- especially children's literature -- "orphan" is the exposition, the very premise of the narrative, the hero or heroine's fearful but exhilarating...

By Amy Tara Koch. AMY TARA KOCH IS A REDEYE SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR. SHE CAN BE SEEN AT 6:25 A.M. TUESDAY ON NBC-5 NEWS | October 13, 2005

If you think you can face fall without un grand chapeau, think again! Hats, for men and women, are the accessory du jour. The Oliver Twist tweed newsboy is the height of chic. Chicagoans can relive their gangsta history with fedoras. And the military look extends from jacket epaulettes to caps. Some advice? Pop into your grandparents' closet and pepper your collection with the vintage classics that inspired this trend. ---------- Edited by Curt Wagner (cwwagner@tribune.

Oliver Twist has one of the greatest hard-knock lives in literature. The 10-year-old lost his mother at birth, toils in the workhouse and falls in with thieves. He is sold, shot, kidnapped, marked for murder and the victim of cruel justice and bad medicine. Take away the music of "Oliver!" and the startling bleakness of "Oliver Twist" (8 p.m. Sunday, WTTW-Ch. 11) comes through in a superb new version from PBS' "Masterpiece." The two-part miniseries continues Feb. 22. Despite the grim...

PREMIUM CABLE "STRIPES" . 11 a.m., 7 p.m., MAX Bill Murray and Harold Ramis join the Army for no particular reason. While this 1981 service comedy is pure formula, made at a time when the notion of Americans in combat seemed improbable in the extreme, Murray lightens the load with his deader-than-deadpan line readings. (Ever been convicted of a crime? "Convicted? No.") P.J. Soles and Sean Young play the MPs. MPAA rating: R -- Michael Phillips BASIC CABLE "OLIVER TWIST" . 1/2 7...

Two things that are hard to do outside in winter wearing mittens: text and smoke. Hence the return of the fingerless glove, last spotted on Billy Idol and Oliver Twist. Given Chicago's piercing winters, the concept may seem a little dopey, but the digitless gloves are everywhere this season, in part so the BlackBerry- and iPhone-obsessed can stay connected and warm. Mary Helge has three pairs. "I'm always texting," explained the 24-year-old Streeterville woman, an independent...

Children's Day With the Arts: Fourth Presbyterian Church will allow kids to explore their "Visions of Family" by writing, designing and constructing a book about their families; designing a coat of arms; contributing to a collage; and more. The event is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the church, located at 126 E. Chestnut, Chicago. It's free. Call 312-787-4570 for more information. New twist: The Players Workshop Children's Theatre is presenting a new version...

Two things that are hard to do outside in winter wearing mittens: text and smoke. Hence the return of the fingerless glove, last spotted on Billy Idol and Oliver Twist. Given Chicago's piercing winters, the concept may seem a little dopey, but the digitless gloves are everywhere, in part so the BlackBerry- and iPhone-obsessed can stay connected and warm. Mary Helge has three pairs. "I'm always texting," explained the 24-year-old Streeterville woman, an independent sales...

Alexandra: The Last Tsarina By Carolly Erickson (St. Martin's Griffin $17.95) A historian's biography of the Russian empress. Oliver Twist By Charles Dickens (Penguin $7) A new edition of Charles Dickens' classic tale of an orphan in London. A Charmed Life: The Spirituality of Potterworld By Francis Bridger (Doubleday $10.95) A Christian minister finds a spiritual message in J.K. Rowling's series of Harry Potter books. ...

What's the hardest thing to do in the theater? For my money, it's create a new musical from scratch. Consider "Shrek," which I saw on Broadway a couple of weeks ago. The producers had one of the funniest family movies ever made as their source, spent some $25 million and hired a slew of the biggest talents in the theater business. The result wasn't awful, but it was hardly transcendent. On the way out of the theater, I was shaking my head thinking about all...

Cameron Mackintosh's London revival of Lionel Bart's Dickensian musical "Oliver!" is finally headed to Chicago's Auditorium Theatre in the early fall of 2003. Sam Mendes' production was widely acclaimed when it opened in London in 1994 and was expected to play in Chicago and later move to Broadway. However, because the orphan-heavy musical used up to 20 child actors, costs proved prohibitive and the Auditorium never got the show. This time around, a new American production of the...

With the girls state soccer playoffs about to begin in earnest next week, a brief history lesson is in order. Homewood-Flossmoor, ranked fourth in the Chicago area, never has reached the Elite Eight in the sport. A 16-year-old sophomore could change that. Goalkeeper Emily Oliver is not only one of the best at that position in the state, she's also visible on the national scene. Earlier this school year, she traveled with the U.S. under-17 team to compete in Brazil. During spring break in...

Two things that are hard to do outside in winter wearing mittens: text and smoke. Hence the return of the fingerless glove, last spotted on Billy Idol and Oliver Twist. Given Chicago's piercing winters, the concept may seem a little dopey, but the digitless gloves are everywhere, in part so the BlackBerry- and iPhone-obsessed can stay connected and warm. Mary Helge has three pairs. "I'm always texting," explained the 24-year-old Streeterville woman, an independent sales...

As anyone who has read the novel "The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit" will remember, Charles Dickens had a complicated relationship with America. He first showed up here at age 29, received a warm welcome, went home and promptly trashed the young republic. But his second American lecture tour, in 1867-68, found an amply remunerated Dickens in a more gracious and generous frame of mind. Toward Eastern cities, at least. Ill health prevented Dickens from making a...

Since David Lean has become best-known as the master of the Anglo-American super-production-and since movie-lovers have been burned trying to recapture the pleasures of "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and "Lawrence of Arabia" on TV-let's answer the big question first: Yes, even if you`ve never seen David Lean's three classic British films of the `40s-"Oliver Twist," "Great Expectations" and "Brief Encounter"- you should rent or buy them on videocassette....

NEW THIS WEEK 'Enchanted' Rating: PG for some scary images and mild innuendo. What it's about: A fairy-tale maid about to become a princess is transported to modern-day New York, where dreams don't necessarily come true. The Kid Attractor Factor: Disney animation, modern sass, music and dancing and big-time critter fun. Good lessons/bad lessons: Sometimes your "true love's kiss" isn't the first guy you smooch. Violence: Wicked stepmother poisonings and such.

"Oliver!," the musical version of Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist," in a revival produced by Cameron Mackintosh," is slated for a May 1999 run here as part of the Auditorium Theatre's 1998-99 subscription series. The revival, which played three years in London, will have a new director, Eric Schaeffer, and a new choreographer, Matthew Bourne, for its North American engagements. Other shows for the Auditorium season include: Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Oct. 9-18; Dance Africa, Oct....

In need of a good seasonal yarn? Turn to the master, Charles Dickens, or better yet, update and recycle him. Such must have been the thinking behind "August Rush," a thinly disguised retelling of "Oliver Twist, " transplanted to contemporary New York and sweetened by a theme of the healing magic of music. Your take on this movie may depend on your tolerance for treacle. Craftily made in many respects, especially in its strategic use of its soaring score (by Mark Mancina),...